The Most Memorable Sporting Moments Of 2012

December 21, 2012 22:36 GMT

It was a busy year in sport with the London Olympics, Paralympics, and Euro 2012 soccer championship featuring in an action-packed calendar. Here's a quick selection of some of the biggest events and defining moments in the sporting world during 2012. (25 PHOTOS)

1Riders compete in the final of the women's Snowboard Cross World Cup race in Veysonnaz, Switzerland, on January 22. The contest was won by Lindsey Jacobellis of the United States. (epa/Jean-Christophe Bott)

2Barcelona's Argentinian forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring during a Spanish league football match against Malaga in January. Messi went on to beat Gerd Muller's 40-year-old record for the most goals scored in a calendar year. Messi ended the year with 91 goals.

3Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates after winning the men's singles final against Rafael Nadal of Spain at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, on January 30. (epa/Masr Irham)

4Nadal got his revenge a few months later when he beat Djokovic to claim a record-breaking seventh French Open title at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris on June 11. (Reuters/Benoit Tessier)

5Russia's Maria Sharapova serves to Italy's Sara Errani on her way to winning the French Open women's singles final in Paris on June 9. (AFP/ Pascal/Guyot)

6A wrestler reacts as he lifts his colleague in the mud at an Indian Kushti mud-wrestling training center on the outskirts of New Delhi on June 13. Kushti is a traditional sport in India but more and more young athletes are now training on mats instead of mud to gain access to top international competitions like the Olympic and Commonwealth games. (Reuters/Parivartan Sharma)

8Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (left) in action against David Limbersky during a Euro 2012 quarterfinal match against the Czech Republic in Warsaw on June 21. Ronaldo scored the only goal in Portugal's 1-0 victory. (epa/Oliver Weiken)

9David Silva heads the ball to score Spain's first goal in a 4-0 victory over Italy in the Euro 2012 final at the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv on July 1. In winning Euro 2012, Spain became the first nation to win three major international tournaments in succession. (AFP/Giuseppe Cacace)

10Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine (right) punches Tony Thompson from the United States during a successful defense of his IBF, WBA, and WBO world heavyweight boxing titles on July 7. (AFP/Fabrice Coffrini)

11Kazakhstan's Aleksandr Vinokurov celebrates as he wins the men's cycling road race to claim a gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games on July 28. (Reuters/Stefano Rellandini)

12France's Camille Muffat on her way to winning the silver in the women's 200-meter freestyle final at the London Olympics on July 31. (AFP/ Francois Xavier Marit)

13U.S. gymnast Alexandra Raisman performs on the beam during the women's team final of the gymnastics event at the London Olympics. (AFP/Emmanuel Dunand)

15Michael Phelps of the United States dives into the pool at the start of the men's 200-meter individual medley swimming final at the Olympics. During the London Games, Phelps became the most decorated Olympian of all-time, ending his stellar career with a total of 22 medals, including 18 golds. (Reuters/Adam Pretty)

16South Africa's Oscar Pistorius became the first ever double-leg amputee to compete at an Olympic Games when he raced in the 400-meter heats of the track-and-field program in August. Pistorious also took part in the Paralympics a month later, winning three medals. (AFP/Oliver Morin)

17Jamaica's Usain Bolt (left) wins the men's 100-meter final at the Olympic Games on August 5. Bolt thus became the first male sprinter to achieve a "double double" by winning both the 100-meter and 200-meter titles at consecutive Olympics. (AFP/Adrian Dennis)

18Russia's Gulnara Galkina on her way to winning the women's 3000-meter steeplechase final at the Olympics on August 6.

19Uzbekistan's Svetlana Radzivil competes in the women's high jump at the London Olympics on August 9. (Reuters/Phil Noble)

21Blind Ukrainian long jumper Ruslan Katyshev makes a splash at the London 2012 Paralympic Games in September. (Reuters/Stefan Wermuth)

22Iran's Hajar Taktaz competes in the women's shot put at the London Paralympics in September. (Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett)

23German Formula One racing driver Sebastian Vettel during practice ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix in September.Vettel went on to clinch his third consecutive world championship later in the year. (AFP/Punit Paranjpe)

24U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong finishes the Power of Four Mountain Bike Race in Aspen, Colorado, in August. In October, Armstrong was banned for life and stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency declared that he was a "serial cheat who led the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen." (AFP/Riccardo Savi)

25Afghan boxer Hamid Rahimi punches Said Mbelwa of Tanzania during their World Boxing Organization Intercontinental middleweight fight in Kabul on October 30. A joyous Kabul crowd invaded the ring to celebrate a local victory in Afghanistan's first professional men's boxing match in decades after Rahimi beat Mbelwa in seven rounds. (Reuters/Omar Sobhani)